Saturday, April 09, 2011

Update...

I have at last updated my website. I'm sure you'll be very pleased to know that I've moved on from 'Happy New Year', and I now have details about my new release Rancher's Twins: Mum Needed.

If you're Australian, you're probably shaking your head over this title. As you know, we don't have ranchers in Oz. We have cattlemen. And we don't have moms. We have mums. My publishers have made a concession to this by changing one of these words in the title for the English and Australian releases, as you can see in the covers below...

Aren't the different approaches to marketing interesting?


The story is partly set in America and my heroine Holly is American, living in New York. By calling Gray, my Australian hero, a rancher... this story can be marketed in America under the Rugged Rancher's logo, which is rather cute. Who am I to argue with marketing?  

I think Gray and Holly's story is actually a bit deeper than the title suggests. My idea for it was born in Coogee last year at our writer's retreat, and I had some wonderfully helpful conversations with Anne Gracie, who is very experienced in teaching adult literacy. I won't say too much more as I don't want to add spoilers. You can read an excerpt here.

Romantic Times had nice things to say... This heart-warming tale is filled with memorable characters grappling with an emotional situation. Hannay handles the transition from mourning to romance gracefully. Four stars.

Speaking of reviews, Molly Cooper's Dream Date  also scored a wonderful, oh-my-goodness review from Cataromance


10 comments:

2paw said...

I had seen this book on websites and I did think about the 'rancher' again. You had to have a 'rancher' before, but earlier on you had cattlemen, which I do like best of all. Maybe I will print out Cattleman's in the right size and sticky tape it on the cover!!! I also noticed we rated a 'mum'!!!
It sounds very interesting, I have already pre-ordered my copy!!
When I lived down the West Coast I officially befriended a Polish couple and helped Eva with her Australian!! We did all sorts of everyday things and talked and wrote. It was a very worthwhile and fun thing to do.

Barbara Hannay said...

2paw... I love the idea of you covering over Rancher! I might have to tell my ediotr about that.

Helping adults to read and communicate is such a worthwhile endeavour. Well done!

Jill said...

I love the word "cattleman" and I'm an American ;-) It makes me think of a Town Like Alice.

Barbara Hannay said...

Jill, do Americans ever use the term cattleman?
A Town Like Alice is one of my all time favourite novels. I believe it was also Princess Margaret's favourite. There was a time I devoured everything by Neville Shute.
I should revisit his books.

SN said...

Oh goodness, Harlequin drives me insane. It’s no wonder Americans are so ignorant about other countries when they’re never given an opportunity to find out about them!

I try to read as many Australian category authors as I can, and when the occasional Australianism slips past the American editing gang I'm so surprised I nearly have a heart attack.

Can’t wait for the book. At least I’ve been forewarned about the American stuff!

Jill said...

Barbara,
Nope, I don't think I've ever heard an American use the term cattleman. We have ranchers and cowboys. But I think Harlequin should use the term cattleman for Australian romance. It adds local flavor and it's pretty obvious what it means ;-)
I have a lot more of Neville Shute's books on my TBR pile!

Barbara Hannay said...

It's wonderful that you're reading so many Australian categories, SN. I think I've learned to "tame" down a lot of my "Oz speak" over the years, bearing in mind that our books are published globally.

2paw said...

A Town Like Alice is one of my favourite books and Virginia McKenna and Peter Finch always make me cry when I watch the film.

Anonymous said...

Barbara,

I can't wait for this book to hit the shelf in Australia, and the different covers wow.

Mel haffner

Barbara Hannay said...

Oh, I must try to hunt down that version, 2paw. I probably saw the Peter Finch one years ago, but I mainly remember Bryan Brown.
Mel, thanks for dropping by. I hope you enjoy Holly and Gray's story.